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We – a team from Rwanda and Germany who work in the field of renewable energy scientific modelling – set out to find the answer by building the Renewable Power Plant Database Africa, the first on the continent. It’s a database of available open access data on hydro, wind and solar energy sources that we’ve analysed.

The database shows that some countries, such as Nigeria and Zimbabwe, have enough projects in the pipeline to potentially transition away from fossil fuels by 2050. And that 76% of all electricity required on the continent could come from renewable resources by 2040. This would happen if the capacity of existing hydro-, solar and wind power plants were fully utilised and if all plants currently on the drawing-board were built.

The 76% from renewables would be met by 82% hydropower, 11% solar power and 7% wind power. Hydropower has been the main renewable energy resource to date, but declining costs for solar photovoltaics (90% decline since 2009) and wind turbines (55%–60% decline since 2010) mean solar and wind have potential to lead sustainable renewable energy options.

Black holes are renowned and frightening phenomena—areas characterized by infinite gravitational force, rendering escape impossible. The process of forming a black hole is relatively uncomplicated: it involves compressing a sufficient amount of mass below a specific size threshold. Once this threshold is surpassed, gravity prevails over all other forces, resulting in the creation of a black hole.

The critical threshold varies depending on the quantity of mass being condensed. For an average human, this threshold is comparable to the size of an atomic nucleus. Conversely, for the Earth, compressing its entirety into the volume of a chickpea would generate a black hole of comparable size. Similarly, for a typical star with several times the mass of the Sun, the resulting black hole would span a few miles—a dimension akin to an average city.

Interestingly, amalgamating all the matter in the universe in an attempt to create the largest possible black hole would yield a black hole roughly the size of the universe itself.